Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-01-16
M5eelin9 Register
COL. SELLERS COIN.
JOHN 7. RAYNONDS IDEAS ON GAMES OF
CHANCE.
Ahsr Long Experiences he Claims Matching" IS an
Even ~Thing-Hs Big Plunge With @Plungsr"
WalNn-ShSrp Practice
Chlenco Ners

Chance was not the subject Of JohA T.
Raymond's thoughts as he sauntered into
Sam Browns place yesterday afternoon.
1t WAS shirts. Having given his order he
noticed a dapper young man arranging an
assortment OF new necties that tiekled his
fancy. "H'much, SAM" he asked.
Three dollars apiece, John"
Match you to see whether | pay six or
nothing for one" said the comedian, with
the twinkle Of the gambling excitement in
his eye, and his hand spread over q penny
on the showcase"
100 yOu-headSr'
You lose"
Here's your tie; see you again"
Raymond was seated with his heels
perched upon n hotel ~windOw-sill later,
medltatIng ON chance, as the writer APP
preached. His eyes ShOne incandeSeently
when the question was asked: what
has been your experience with chance9''
DO you really want to know?" was his
qnick reiOinder. Yes? Then I'll match
you to see whether or not I'll tellr' turn
ing his favorite old cent piece over on his
thigh.
Heads
well Young man" hepursued, slowly,
the excitement going out OF his eve and a
thoughtful radiance replacing it, you
have won. That is half my experience
with chance. Sometimes | lose. That is
the other half. What are the percentages
of chance? In matching l can { see that
there are any. Ii is a plain gamble-heSds
l win, tails You lose, or vice versa. No
one has the advantage. There is q pOpu-
lar impression that the man who chal-
lenges in a wager mas the short end Of the
chance. l don't believe it. What differ
ence can it make whether you challenge or
accept? IL you are the luckiest q you
win. | have little doubt that the idea
comes from the fact that when a man ehal-
len@eS u wager he is most confident of
winning. Then, UpOn losing, contrary to
his expectation, the superstition, OF which
all OF us possess a grain, tells him that he
waS foolish to invite misfortune. This he
Is very APT to ruminate over until he de
cideS that luck is against u man when he
challenges it. You can see that there is
little philosophy in such a conclusion.
In matching, AS | said before, the chance
is always even though the luck may be
unequal.
The great trouble with the ordinary
mortal is that in taking the chance and
winning he fails to realize that luck il the
goddess with whom he is dallying. She
smiles on him and he lain would linger
with her forever. Her favOrs have in
spired him tO such an extent rs To blind
him Ia her lcave-taking. Though she only
coquetS with him and then disappears to
firt with another, he still courts her. To
be practical, my hoy, few men know when
10 quit ahead. They never set a limit for
a winning until they have reached it. In
other words, they always van more.
Look mt that fellow | saw down
NJ Long Branch last summer. Win! i
never saw anything like il. OF course you
know something about the chance of rOu-
lette. lie couldn't lOSe-I tell you, my
boy, ne couldn't lose. 1t didn't seem to
make any difference where he placed his
money. single number, black OF red, double,
@, anywhere, il was u sure thing. He was
only betting half a dollar. II he had been
playing the limit he would have burst
Monaco. But he did rs they all do. He
played his luck out while striving to make
his winnings Just $500 more, and left the
table without a dollar. That is the great,
inestimable chance that the inside man at
a gaming table has all the time-the ayar-
Ice and Obstinacy Of the player. A man
winning is usually afraid Of his luck p
man losing becomes desperate and reckless,
A winning man rarely knows when he has
got enough; 4 losing nan rarely has the
courage to stay until luck stakes him, and
if he does his single hope is to get even.
Luck is SpaSmOdic; ii runs in waves
tidal waves sometimes. You want to deal
with it i~ntelligently. BY tempting it con-
stantly / think you can demonstrate to
your entire satisfaction that ut the end Of q
lifrtime-taking even chances, bear in
mind-the two sides will balance. Now,
to show you the difference between the
gamblers theory and a gentleman'S prac-
tice: An old gambler came to me once,
and, saws he: It's q dead sure thing that
YOU will lose in the end
'Why?' l asked, impressed by his ear
neStneSS.
d" Because YOU are always betting. You
90 down the street and meet n friend.
You match him for s., and win. On the
next corner YOU match another friend for
$40, and lose. See? YOu are out So
Il said that | didn't quite see.
The point is this he explained
You will match with anybody and you
will match all the time. It's AS plain as
day. The percentage is against you be-
cause YOU are playing against e~verybOdy'S
luck, aud, rs the world goes, most fellows
play highest when they know they're IN
good luck.
Now, there may be something in that,
hut nv experience doesn't happen tn sup
port the theory. ] have heen matching al
my life. | will match anybody for any
thin" up 10 800 any time-that'S as high
as I'll gO-and | am, | tell you, my boy, rs
near ~ | can figure it-l I'M about even.
Take the time | matched Plunger Walton.
They grldcd int into that; | wouldn't do
II again il | knew | was going to win.
Thousand dollars a match, ten matches,
was the agreement. Why, ut the last
throw we were even. Then we
matched ten times foe $500 a match,
and | beat him live times. As i
say, that was pushing it q little strong,
and | wouldn't repeat the ~ perienee under
any consideration. Here's another IN
stance: One day Fred Lane was beating
me every time | turned a coin. Passing
by a store window | saw - handsome UNI
brella; $50 | found out was the cost upon
inuuiring. Lane had lost his umbrella the
night before. | had D good One nj home.
Match you, Frank, 10 see whether L ouy
that umbrella for you or whether you buy
it tor me- lie was sure of winning, but
he lost. So think there is equity in luck,
if you take what | call the even chance,
and can't see that there is anything else
in matching.
Pleasure? Oh, yes; l enjoy 1t very
much. SO much 50, in fact, that neyei
think of the chance. IL is an exhilaratlng
excitement, win or lose, and il is all oveE
in a minute. Why, in San Francisco,
when l was with the old company there,
| used To match while ON the stage A
friend of mine used to sit down front